TnT Katropa is willing to be patient with Glen Rice Jr. after the new import played below expectations in his PBA Governors Cup debut on Sunday night.

The son of NBA great and namesake Glenn Rice struggled to find his range against Rain or Shine as he was held to just three first half points in a 105-73 runaway win by the Elasto Painters at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The 26-year-old American did finish with 19 points but was 6-of-22 from the field, including 2-of-11 from three-point range.

But coach Nash Racela stressed this is not the way Rice plays.

“It’s just one game,” the soft spoken mentor said. “We hope he gets better in the next games.”

The Katropa lost for the second time in four outings and Racela won’t hold Rice solely responsible for it.

He said missing the services of five players proved to be a big burden for the team. Jayson Castro, Roger Pogoy, and Troy Rosario all are with the national teams currently campaigning in two major international tournaments, while Kris Rosales and Anthony Semerad are both out with various injuries.

“We missed major players today. So it’s hard when you don’t have those players and you’re forced to use your 13th to 15th players. So of you look at our rotation earlier, ganoon na nga ang nangyari,” said Racela.

Rice coming in was a major decision TnT had to make especially with burly Michael Craig not doing badly in his brief stint with the team.

Racela was tight-lipped about the reason behind Craig's exit. At the same time, he also doesn’t see pressure just being too much on Rice trying to live up to the name of his legendary father, one of the best outside shooters of all time.

“It’s not about the name, that’s the mentality. It’s about the performance,” Racela said of the young Rice, a product of Georgia Tech who played for the Washington Wizards and was the second round pick (35th overall) by the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2013 NBA draft.